Yu Darvish Undecided about Joining MLB

A few days after it was reported that Yu Darvish was ready to request to be posted by his current Japanese club, the right-hander has come out and denied that a decision has been made.  In a blog post, Darvish confirmed that he is currently undecided about joining Major League Baseball next season, while taking a few shots at his national media in the process.

Darvish has pitched for the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japan Pacific League since 2007.  Putting up eye-popping numbers since joining the league, Darvish has been a highly-sought-after international player for years.  Season after season, teams prepared bids for Darvish in anticipation of his posting, only to watch the phenom elect to remain in Japan.

Now, after five seasons in the JPPL, Darvish appears ready to join the ranks of Major League Baseball.  Kyodo News reported Wednesday that Darvish was preparing to request that the Fighters post him.  By doing so, Darvish would be eligible to be bid upon by MLB teams.  The club submitting the largest offer would then win the rights to negotiate a contract with Darvish.

Yesterday, Darvish put those talks on hold, confirming in his post that “Nothing is determined!!”  Darvish wondered how anything could be confirmed when he hasn’t “decided anything” for himself.

Darvish continued, taking the talks a step farther by calling out Kyodo News, asking “what did they base their writing on?”  Stating that you could perhaps call this “freedom of press”, Darvish cautioned that this so-called freedom comes with responsibility.  Darvish finished his web based tongue-lashing by asking how Kyodo could “write lies and escape responsibility?”

Darvish confirmed that he will formally make a decision following the Fighters’ season, which comes to an end later this month.  Darvish finished his post by letting readers know that as soon as he reaches a decision he “will let everyone know”.

The reason why Darvish’s decision to-post-or-not-to-post is such a big deal is because the right-hander could end up being the most highly-coveted pitcher on the free agent market behind C.C. Sabathia.

Over his first four seasons in Japan, Darvish maintained a 1.81 ERA and 0.909 WHIP while logging just under 200 innings pitched per year.  Darvish has struck out more than a batter an inning over that span while averaging 2.1 walks per nine.